Why are companies so frequently sued in the United States, and how might these business litigation risks be avoided through preventative measures and more effectively managed? 

This book, now in its second edition, answers those two weighty questions. The central premise of the work is that costly and protracted lawsuits in the US are often traceable to unforced errors companies make time and again. By better understanding the sources of commercial litigation, including the various legal theories of plaintiff’s lawyers and current litigation trends, preventive steps can be implemented, reducing these risks and saving the company millions in legal fees and liabilities. 

Kent Schmidt draws on over twenty-five years of experience defending companies throughout the US in almost every conceivable type of commercial litigation. He applies a “lessons-learned” approach from these experiences, to examine how companies can create a unique litigation risk profile to identify and address their primary litigation vulnerabilities. The second part of the book outlines how companies embroiled in US litigation can manage the process, from the filing of the lawsuit, expensive discovery, trial or arbitration and various dispute resolving opportunities along the way.

The book is written for a diverse audience. Attorneys, whether in-house or outside counsel, will find it a useful desk-reference for quickly accessing relevant information and issue-spotting for their clients. The book is equally accessible to non-lawyers – anyone whose responsibilities include managing US litigation risks. These persons include those in venture capital, CFOs and other members of management, risk management and compliance professionals, and entrepreneurs seeking to implement best practices as they launch a start-up or expand to US markets.

The second edition includes a number of key updates: tracking litigation trends, new US regulations emerging public policies, particularly in the area of ESG-driven lawsuits, privacy litigation, enhanced mandatory disclosures protecting consumers, new employee liabilities, and a host of other cutting edge litigation risks.